


Heirlooms

by MoonlitMelody



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: And I thought to myself, Gen, Hey I bet David Cain never got Cassandra's ears pierced, Inspired by that one time Stephanie was wearing earrings in Batgirl, One Shot, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Cassandra, Wonder if I could make a story about that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 09:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitMelody/pseuds/MoonlitMelody
Summary: Originally posted on Tumblrhere.This is at some nebulous (imaginary) point in the pre-52 timeline where everyone knows each other and Jason can tolerate associating with Bruce. Also, Cass is older than Jason here because I live for Big Sis Cass and there is Evidence for this in canon.I googled at-home piercing procedures, but please don't quote me on any of this. If you're looking into piercing, go to a reputable piercing parlor that uses proper aseptic technique.Oh, and I didn’t get a chance to add this in, but Bruce totally tears up when Cass walks in with Martha Wayne’s earrings. LOOK AT HIS PRECIOUS DAUGHTER. SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL. She totally went behind his back for two months and possibly endangered herself, but JUST LOOK AT HER. HE CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS.





	Heirlooms

Cassandra does not flinch as Stephanie pushes the needle through her ear. It’s a very tiny pain in a non-vital spot, and Stephanie is working quickly to pull the needle out, leaving the little titanium stud behind. In less than a minute, she affixes the little backstop, mops up the small trickle of blood with gauze, and removes the forceps keeping her earlobe in place.

“Ta-da! That’s Ear Number One done,” Stephanie says as she tosses the used needle into a red plastic box. “Ear Number Two, coming right up!”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Oracle half-shouts from across the room. “You’re going to be stuck with those for two months, Cass. If even one person gets a lucky shot at your head, it’s going to be a bloody mess.”

“Pssh, Boss-Lady, be real. Like anyone’s going to get that close to Cass’s head.” There’s another round of sterilization for her second ear before Stephanie puts the forceps on and lines up another needle.

“It’s still possible, which means it’s a risk that I’m going to point out. And how exactly are you going to hide piercings from Bruce anyway?”

A pinch and pull - the second stud follows the needle into her ear. “She doesn’t have to hide them. Bruce wouldn’t…er…no, he totally would ruin a good piercing for safety reasons, huh?”

“Exactly. And the holes will close up unless they stay in for the whole healing period.”

“Aaaand there goes my whoo-we-did-it success high,” Stephanie says. The second needle goes in the box; her gloves and the used packaging go in the trash. “If B messes up my work, I’m going to kick him. People pay good money for piercings that great!”

“Thank you,” Cassandra says first (Dick and Alfred both insist that verbal gratitude was necessary when dealing with friends). Then she says, “Bruce won’t find out.”

“And how are you going to accomplish that?” Oracle asks. She rolls over to them with a box of cookies and glasses of milk (almond milk for Cassandra - cow’s milk doesn’t agree with her).

Cass smiles as she grabs a cookie. “I’ll hide.”

“For two months?”

“Yes.”

“You live with Bruce, Cass.”

“Yes, I do.”

Stephanie’s grin is very wide behind the rim of her glass. “You’re going to just avoid him _in his own house for two months_. Oh my god. Fifty bucks says he doesn’t notice!”

* * *

Bruce does not notice, of course. Cassandra is very good at sneaking, and also very good at looking like she’s  _not_  sneaking. Still, two months of hiding her ears is difficult. The piercings mean that when she’s not wearing her cowl, she has to avoid face-to-face contact with almost everyone in the manor. That means taking dinners alone, training alone, practicing her reading and writing alone. If not for the different decor and acoustics, she could almost imagine she was back in the first little safe-house-cave Bruce had given her as Batgirl - alone outside of patrols and visits to Barbara.

It’s not fun avoiding everyone, but it is necessary. Alfred would be just as appalled as Bruce that she’s patrolling with little open wounds and sharp metal in her ears - he’d insist she take the studs out. Dick would be less appalled but equally worried - he’d tell on her within a day. Jason would  _pretend_  not to be worried, but anyone with eyes could see that he was just as bad as Dick. She gives it a hypothetical week before her oldest little brother caved and ratted her out.

Damian actually could be trusted to keep the secret, but she keeps it from him anyway because he’s also the most likely to follow her lead on hiding potentially-dangerous things from Bruce. Now that she’s a Wayne, she’s also a big sister - she has to set a good example for her baby brother.

Tim, though. Tim would keep the secret, and he is already a lost cause when it comes to hiding things he really shouldn’t. Hanging out with him is a net positive - it makes the two months less lonely for her, and it makes him feel particularly special (which he is - Tim is Cassandra’s Robin, and she never passes up on opportunities to remind him). And while she is still technically setting a bad example, she is also perfectly situated to police his self-care habits on the pretext of hiding in his apartment or his rooms in the manor. Win-win all around.

(“Cass, I’m not really hungry,” Tim says.

“It’s Jason’s,” Cass explains.  _I stole it_ , she adds with a quirk of her lips.

Tim looks again at the roast beef sandwich she’s holding in front of his face. A moment of calculation, then he takes the sandwich and the tea she brewed to go with it. “Iz gud,” he mumbles around a full mouth.

“Stolen food usually is,” Cass says.)

* * *

Exactly eight weeks after Stephanie pierced her ears, Cassandra removes her Bat-logo studs for the first time. Having holes in her ears that probably will never close up is a little weird, but as Stephanie promised, they’re painless and unobtrusive now that they’re healed. Cass gives an internal cheer at not having to wear earrings while in uniform ever again.

The studs are set in a place of honor in the jewelry box Bruce gifted her last Christmas before Cassandra picks up a different pair - platinum teardrops set with sapphires and tiny diamonds. The blue gems go perfectly with the gown Alfred had ordered for her for tonight’s gala while the metal echoes the color of her kitten heels.

It takes a moment or two to actually get the earrings in - the piercings are holes, yes, but there’s depth to them and she ends up poking around for the exit. After they’re secured, Cassandra tilts her head back and forth, turning side to side to see how the drops fall.  _Earrings are heavy_ , is the first thing that comes to mind. She can see why Barbara and Stephanie insisted on the studs as her first pair. In comparison to those, these feel like tiny little wrecking balls, waiting to smack her in the face if she turns to quickly.

But looking in the mirror with her gown and shoes and jewels, she feels…pretty. Nothing like a weapon or a soldier or a vigilante. She feels pretty like a girl; like a daughter wearing her grandmother’s earrings - a gift from her father - for the first time.

(Bruce had been so flustered giving her his mother’s jewelry box; she’s pretty sure that her lack of ear piercings never even crossed his mind. It’s funny and sweet and a bit sad, in hindsight. Hopefully less sad now that she can wear everything in the box and has the opportunity to do so.) 

Cassandra Wayne gives one last shake of her head (the drops aren’t that heavy now) before heading off to meet the rest of her family.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr here.
> 
> This is at some nebulous (imaginary) point in the pre-52 timeline where everyone knows each other and Jason can tolerate associating with Bruce. Also, Cass is older than Jason here because I live for Big Sis Cass and there is Evidence for this in canon.
> 
> I googled at-home piercing procedures, but please don't quote me on any of this. If you're looking into piercing, go to a reputable piercing parlor that uses proper aseptic technique.
> 
> Oh, and I didn’t get a chance to add this in, but Bruce totally tears up when Cass walks in with Martha Wayne’s earrings. LOOK AT HIS PRECIOUS DAUGHTER. SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL. She totally went behind his back for two months and possibly endangered herself, but JUST LOOK AT HER. HE CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS.


End file.
